Elastic extension device



' L, MACHEROUX. ELASTIC EXTENSION DEVICE.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 12 1919.

1 345345. Patent d J uly 6;1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS MACHEROUX, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 KARL MATI-IEUS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELASTIG EXTENSION DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1920.

Application filed May 12, 1919. Serial No. 296,441.

1 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS MAoHnnoUx, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of (look, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elastic Extension Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has to do with improvements in garments such as belts, suspenders, garters, corsets, etc, and has to do generally with articles of apparel in which it is desirable, or in which it may be desirable, to provide for elongation or variation in size.

The main object of the invention is to make provision for permitting the article to elongate or stretch under tension so as to accommodate itself to changing conditions of its use.

Another object of the invention is to make provision for a relatively large amount of such elongation so as to make it possible for a single garment to be used under a very wide range of changing or variable conditions.

Other objects and uses of the invention will appear from adetail description of the same which consists in the features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described.

In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a fragmentary portion of the end portions of the belt having applied thereto the features of the present invention, one of the spring cases being broken away so as to reveal its interior construction;

Fig. 2 shows a side elevation correspond 7 ing to Fig. 1;

F ig. 3 shows another side elevation similar to Fig. 2 with the exception that the two ends of the belt have been stretched apart or separated under tension; and,

Fig. 4 shows a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Before explaining in detail the particular construction illustrated in the drawings, I will state that I have herein illustrated the features of the present invention as they may be readily applied in the case of such an article of apparel as a belt, but I wish it distinctly understood that by so illustrating and describing the use of the invention I do not in any manner limit it to such particular use.

Bearing the foregoing in mind, the end portions of the belt are designated by the numerals 5 and 6 respectively. These end portions are to be permitted to move back and forth with respect to each other, and provlslon is made for drawing them toward each other so that they'can only be separated by the application of suitable tension. For this purpose I have provided a pair of spring reels 7 (one reel being covered over and protected by the casing within which it is located and therefore not being visible in the figures.) Each of these reels is mounted on an axle 9 on which it rotates. A spring 10 tends to rotate the reel.

Over each reel is a cap or cover 11 having an opening 12 through which passes a cable or cord 13 which winds upon and unwinds from the corresponding reel. The cable or cord from one reel passes through the opening of its casing and is hooked onto or en gaged with a hook 14 on the case of the other reel, so that when the two ends of the belt or article are separated, both of the cords are drawn and their reels are unwound under spring-tension. It is thus evident that the amount of tension exerted between the two ends of the article is equal to that created by both of the springs.

As a matter of convenience in construction, the reels and their axles are conveniently carried on plates 15 and 16 which are attached or secured to the end portions 5 and 6. For this purpose said plates may have their sides 17 and 18 folded down around and turned under the edges of the portions 5 and 6, and may be provided with teeth or other gripping devices 19 for engagement with the end portions 5 and 6, which teeth take the tension and transmit the same to said end portions.

As previously stated, these end portions 5 and 6 may be those of a belt, garter, suspender or any other article of apparel and, therefore, by illustrating and describing them as being the end portions of a given article, I do not intend to so limit myself to this specific use except as I may do so in the claims. In the particular arrangement illustrated, however, since the end portions 5 and 6 are shown as being those of a belt, I have made certain other or additional provisions which are peculiarly useful in connect-ion with such a specific application of the invention. For example, I have proprovided vided a tongue 20, the end 21 of which is secured to the underside of 5, the end 22 of said tongue underlying the end portion 6. guide or working surface on which the end portion 6 may operate withrespect to the end portion 5. A strap or loop 23 may be on the end 22 of the tongue, said strap or loop surrounding and working on the end portion 6.

I claim: V

1. As a new article of manufacture, a spring device comprising two end portions movable toward and from each other, a plate secured to each end portion, a reel pivotall-y mouned with respect to each plate, said pivotal mountings being non-coincident, a cap overreach reel, there being an opening in each cap, a cord secured to and winding uponeach reel and passing through the, opening of; the. corresponding cap, a connection the cap of theopposite reel, and a spring within each reel for rotating the same to wind its cord thereon, substantially as described. or p '2. As anew article ofnianufacture, a

the end portion Said tongue serves as a from the end of each cord to spring device comprising two end portions which are movable toward and from each other, a reel pivotally mounted with'respect to each of said end portions and movable therewith, said pivotal mountings bein non-coincident, a cap covering over anc protecting each reel, there being an opening in each cap, reel and passing through the opening of the corresponding cap, a connection from the end of each cord to the other cap, and a springrfor rotating each reel to wind its cord thereon, substantially as described.

ii /As a new article of manufacture, a spring device comprising a pair of end portions which are movabletoward and from each other, a reel pivotally mounted with respect to each of said end portions, said pivotal mountings being non-coincident, a

cord wound upon each reel, a spring for rotating each reel to windthe cord thereon, and a' connection between the end of each cord and the end portion with respect to which the other reel is pivoted, substantially as described. i

LOUIS MACHEROUX.

a cord wound upon each- 

